I'm learning MySQL myself and though I haven't done anything as relatively complex as your project and have stuck more with PHP than Perl, I feel nevertheless that you'd find the following resources helpful:

• man DBI - Perl DBI Interface tutorial; a good introduction to the generic database interface.
• The MySQL Documentation Index has the MySQL Manual as well as links to articles that provides a pretty good introduction and foundation for beginners of MySQL.

I'm sure other monks can suggest good resources, and I wish you good luck with learning MySQL. Have fun!

-- Rozallin J. Thompson
The Webmistress who doesn't hesitate to use strict;